Earth Equity News

T. Boone Pickens' Ad Campaign on U.S. Foreign Oil Dependency. By Allison Fass, Forbes, July 11, 2008. "'Did you know, back in 1970, we imported 24% of our oil, and by 1990 it was 42%,' says billionaire T. Boone Pickens, in his Texas drawl, at the start of a national commercial that began airing this week. 'Today, it's almost 70% and climbing every minute.' His voice plays as the words appear in white letters on a black screen. A fire slowly burns into the background. The octogenarian oilman has a message for Americans and the two presidential candidates: Our dependence on imported oil is destroying the country. Pickens is serious about this -- he's spending $58 million and a chunk of his personal time to get the word out. 'I've been an oilman my entire life,' he says, appearing in his first TV commercial, 'but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of.' The 60-second spot debuted Tuesday along with a deluge of paid and unpaid national and local media. The goal is to make U.S. dependency on imported oil 'the No. 1 political issue in America,' says Pickens' spokesman Jay Rosser."